How will caring, daring and sharing, make belonging possible for our SEND learners, and our colleagues.
In education and SEND leadership, it’s not unusual to be taken aback when a colleague offers recognition for something you’ve done - we’re not always good at accepting praise without deflecting or being suspicious. We take for granted that when leading an organisation or team, we show gratitude for our staff and are programmed not to expect anything in return.
I shared a quote on social media last week which began some passionate and possibly therapeutic conversations at BCE. As facilitators we know that a thought provoking quotation is a super-simple yet exciting way to engage and ignite a team, when you time the delivery well.
Motivational writer, William Arthur Ward, provided us with a valuable collection of thoughts to lean on when training, teaching, reflecting and leading. One which I rely on often when training and coaching is:
“Three keys to more abundant living: caring about others, daring for others, sharing with others.”
As an educationalist and/or SEND specialist, you will hold many meaningful anecdotes, milestones and successes in mind when you consider the quote in relation to your own practice over time. We want to care, dare and share for learners, so that they will grow, be curious and thrive in readiness for life beyond education. It’s not ourselves we prioritise when thinking about ‘abundant living’ in the context of education leadership. But when we achieve something like it for our learners and their families, we benefit too.
When considering caring, daring and sharing, we have our own stories to share and by opening up a conversation with your team or a colleague starting with: ‘Tell me about a time when you cared/dared/shared.’ (Also a great interview question). You will be blown away by the energy and motivation this request ignites in your team, an individual or class of students.
This engagement in work provides loads of opportunities to offer hand-on-heart recognition and gratitude for the efforts, skills and dedication of your school community. It also provides you with the chance to share your own anecdotes and help your team know and understand you better. I have to say, sharing your most eye-watering ‘daring’ anecdote is a real crowd pleaser and teams just love to talk or hear about the times when we’ve stepped outside the box, taken a risk or thrown the book out and won for a child or family as a result. We all appreciate a story of rebellion!
Which caring/daring/sharing story would you share with your team, class or a colleague today?
For our vulnerable learners, having a key adult in their education setting who does these three things for them instinctively, is what provides their confidence in knowing that they belong. By caring, daring and sharing for that one young person who is showing signs of drifting from their learning community and sense of place within it, you maximise their chances of coming back. The key to this we know is spotting the signs and acting fast, which is complex in so many ways and part of the work BCE does to support improving school attendance and employee wellbeing.
We know that recognition, gratitude and simply sharing our vulnerabilities, stories of bravery (or the downright blunders we’ve collected along the way) help us to connect and engage with our teams - the same practice is what your SEND children will benefit from greatly, if you want them to be able to stay.
If we can put our teams in a position to be able to begin the work on belonging for the long term, it is an achievable and significant pathway for our setting.
Creative resourcing, time management, smart recruitment, flexible timetabling, genuine recognition, professional development and growing a culture of valuing simple connection together, will make it possible when those three words: care, dare, share, are at the top of the page at every step.
At Beyond Creative Education, yes, we provide an alternative learning and wellbeing place for your SEND children, and then so much more. We offer training, practical workshops, resource, planning, meeting space, art studios, support and guidance for making long term belonging at your place, achievable.
We’d be really pleased to share our offer with you - do come along to our Open Days to ask how we can help and what we can do to ensure your efforts have a real and meaningful impact.
If you’ve a little time on Wednesday 21st or Friday 23rd May, we’d love to see you.
